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1)their real bodies are being taken cared of in the outside world
2)if you die in this game, you die in real life. If you try to take off the helmet, you also die.
3)reach the top of the tower and everyone will be freed.

Due to the inherent aspect of VRMMORPG, mental assistance isn't surprising, but absolutely not compulsory at all.

Well, it's described as if it was compulsory.

Yui was part of the system that keep the balance of the game, so obviously for the people who created the game, the mental care of the players did affect the balance.

I don't know exactly how that would work. Maybe it has to do with the fact that this isn't just a normal MMO, but VRMMO. Maybe there's more stress build-up for that reason and that makes it necessary to have a system like Yui in place. I don't know.

Yui was part of the system that keep the balance of the game, so obviously for the people who created the game, the mental care of the players did affect the balance.

I don't know exactly how that would work. Maybe it has to do with the fact that this isn't just a normal MMO, but VRMMO. Maybe there's more stress build-up for that reason and that makes it necessary to have a system like Yui in place. I don't know.

Mental health would not have an effect on the game's balance, Kayaba probably only made her to get past some red tape to get the game released, then blocked her from doing her job once he got the game off the ground as she was deemed unneccessary.

Look at it his way: Would a player have a higher strength stat from being mentally unstable?
Would they move any faster?
Would ANY of their character's parameters be higher from simply being unstable?

The answer is no.

Granted they might attack and fight eratically, but that's not any different then how most noobs/newbies fight anyway. We've all seen the button masher types.

It's my speculation that Kayaba had no intention of Yui ever doing her job period. She was just there so that he could tell the "moral guardians"

"If anything goes wrong with the players, we have an on-site Mental & Emotional Support for them."

It was never described as mandatory at all. Even Yui herself states Cardinal is responsible for the Ai of monsters, NPC, items etc. And only afterwards she mentions Cardinal, the system as whole, controls every programs, -which- includes the mental counciling one.

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Yui was part of the system that keep the balance of the game, so obviously for the people who created the game, the mental care of the players did affect the balance.

No, you didn't get the term used. The balance of the game is controlled by Cardinal which is the whole system that controls -everything- in SAO. It never states that Cardinal only takes care of that.

A system can controls several things at the same time, and one of the aspect of it is the balance of the game, and another aspect of it is the player mental care.

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I don't know exactly how that would work. Maybe it has to do with the fact that this isn't just a normal MMO, but VRMMO. Maybe there's more stress build-up for that reason and that makes it necessary to have a system like Yui in place. I don't know.

It would be the same as the usual health controls used for games (such like age restriction, epilepsy warning etc). However, again, this aspect of game is -not- part of game balance.

You are confonding Cardinal role as only one, despite it is a whole that includes 2 different aspects of SAO.

You are confonding Cardinal role as only one, despite it is a whole that includes 2 different aspects of SAO.

The thing is that those two roles are interconnected.

Spoiler for Morning Dew Girl:

Everything in SAO needs to be managed and keep on balance. That's why Cardinal has two core programs which are meant to judge each other and make corrections accordingly, all with the purpose of keeping everything balanced.

Yui was a secondary program of that system, and disrupting her functions does interfere with the overall balance of SAO's world.

...loved the way they introduced the boss on the roof jumping down then sent the 2 guys flying off and before disappearing...
...that slow-mo moment with Heathcliff guarding its attack then reverting back to normal with the other scythe quickly finishing off the other guy...
...and then when Kirito was guarding but was forced down to one knee...
...with the music in sync made the boss very persuasive as a BAM battle...

...although a fully rendered fight was be nice and all...still shots with some movement at key moments can bring out the main focus across filtering out unesscessary dragged-on fights...
...i prefer quick epic moments than pro-longed frustration...unless it is the final stage i dont mind...

Everything in SAO needs to be managed and keep on balance. That's why Cardinal has two core programs which are meant to judge each other and make corrections accordingly, all with the purpose of keeping everything balanced.

Yui was a secondary program of that system, and disrupting her functions does interfere with the overall balance of SAO's world.

Spoiler for answer:

All it said was that trouble coming from human's psyche couldn't be dealt with by a program, except that it totally could, and that they were too cheap to hire GMs. Thus, Yui.

Which is expecting a lot from GMs in the first place, but there you are.

^ Actually, the budget was more or less the same than Episode 2. Skull Reaper is obviously rendered in CGI (which isn't too odd, as it is a VRMMORPG after all), but all the textbook budget cut for animation etc is there, including the awkward camera. At least the directing made up for the awkward animation.
Gleam Eyes battle has the better budget, even though it still has a lot left to be desired.

Kirito's comment was limited to the game play, not the overall situation -- in other words, the parts controlled by Cardinal and not directly by Kayaba. Cardinal might be tough, but it's not going to stop them from completing the game by spawning infinite mobs outside the a boss chamber, or setting a trap that can only be escaped if one player kills another.

All good and excellent points. Except it wouldn't matter and give me any comfort if my brain is fried, would it? I wasn't really addressing what Kirito meant as fair, nor was I contesting whether the game itself is fair or not. My point was, in the end it doesn't matter, neither attacking nor defending the fairness of it makes much sense.

For example, go and tell a deceased victim's family and good luck explaining how the game was fair and balanced. I would applaud them for not slapping you immediately (not 'you' specifically, I'm making a general statement).

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Originally Posted by Adigard

It's important to keep in mind that the situation when Kirito made that statement, vs. today is rather different. I doubt he'd make such a statement if asked about it now.

I'd say the underlying situation never really changes, but rather Kirito's pov does. Initially despite realizing the death game being real Kirito still takes the gamer approach and pov to SAO, most probably because he's exceedingly confident in his gaming skills (I'm reminded of how someone mentioned Kirito similar to Keima in the character thread, maybe this was what he meant. They're both confident in their ways such that they cling to it). Now, he has found something much more important than that, in Asuna.

That boss is horrifying! and to think its only floor 75... but then again maybe the next boss will be easier, 75 may be a landmark sort of dungeon... but i shudder to think that the boss's follow the 90/10 rule of power... if that were so the final 10 bosses would have 90% of all the battle power.

But then again im only quoting how wealth is distributed in the real world so :P

Skullreaper is simply too tough, Illfang and Gleameyes can't compare. Insane speed, attack and defense. Also, that overwhelming feeling of despair when it already has killed many and has not lost even 1/10 of its first HP bar.

This fight better continue in the next episode, would be disappointing if Kirito and Asuna cross attack is the last we see of it.

It's funny, after seeing this episode I was imagining if a boss of this power managed to get into a town. Massacre ensues.

It's unfortunate, but members of the Red Shirt Brigade were needed to show just how deadly this boss is. No idea how the main characters are going to defeat it, or who will survive. By the way, maybe I missed it, but why is the chef guy there, and not in his shop? Perhaps a sign that they're running out of strong players?

Also, I guess my (unspoken) theory regarding just how much time they're actually spending in the game is debunked by Asuna talking about how everyone acting strange, laying down in the streets as their bodies were being moved. I was sort of guessing, especially since we weren't shown anything (no people suddenly de-rezzing as their helmets were removed) that perhaps their time in the game was simulated, and they had, at most, spent only a real day or two in the game. Well that was answered.